Are any rooms accessible?
Saturday, the last day after the Fifth Sunday of Easter
[There is a reflection after this blessing]
BLESSING WITH MANY ROOMS
As you step inside this blessing, we wish to tell you it is large enough for you to lie down in. Or (though it may not look it, small as it is upon this page) you can curl up in this blessing with a cup of tea and a good book beside the window— here, just behind you— that faces east.
Likewise it is true, though you might not have paused long enough to notice, that this blessing is big enough for a table— quite a sizeable one can be accommodated—
where your guests will want to linger far into the night. And if they desire to stay, you will find that through this door— you did not see it before? —there are rooms in plenty where they can lay their heads and stretch out with abandon in their dreaming sleep. One room, many rooms— in this blessing it is all the same.
The point is that there is space enough: enough to make a life, a home; enough to make a world; enough to make your way toward the One who has made this way for you. —Jan Richardson
Today is the last day before we enter the Sixth Sunday of Easter.
Last Sunday, we read that Jesus told his followers he was going to prepare a place for them, a place with many rooms [John 14:1-14].
It was another moment of assurance for these disciples, a promise that they would not be left alone.
I couldn’t help but wonder: how many rooms would it take to house all the people seeking shelter and safety, and what would it look like to adapt to each person seeking shelter? There are so many looking for a place to belong, to care for themselves and their loved ones, and to feel safe.
One room, many rooms- in this blessing, it is all the same.
These words in Jan Richardson’s ‘Blessing with Many Rooms’ provide a great description. They encouraged me to picture this place, a place large enough for all.
And yes, all means all! Are any of the rooms ADA accessible? This place, designed by one holy architect, would certainly include everything required to meet any need. Beds that are accessible to anyone. Bathrooms that are large enough to accommodate people with visible or non-visible disabilities. Kitchens where everything would be accessible to retrieve clean water and cook soup on a stove.
Yes, I am describing an accessible ‘house’ with many rooms. And as I write this description, I realize that anyone thinking about this “house” would imagine it as a place where they could belong. What a creative place this could be!
We live in a time when the idea of belonging is being challenged. There is an effort to disrupt and distract people who seek a familiar, safe place. Hearing this story can bring comfort with its hope-filled promise, or it can create anxiety as we watch our own foundations strain to stay strong.
So this is not a well-thought-out sermon. It is a simple reflection on where we might see ourselves in this place with many rooms. It is an invitation to imagine what this place could look like. It is a nudge for each of us to engage as if we could be a part of this place’s construction.
The tools at our disposal are not hammers and nails. No, our tools look more like open conversation and patient listening. The tools we need will help us learn from one another as we help create a community where everyone knows they belong.
Accessibility came up for me first. This was my natural segue to considering what this place could look like.
When you think of this place, promised by Jesus to be a house with many rooms, what comes to mind for you? What tools would you need if you were a part of this place’s construction?
(Blessing & image inspired by this past Sunday’s gospel reading: John 14:1-14)